Solo
by QuickenMyEnd
Summary: AU- Sam had been fourteen when he was taken away from his father and brother by Child Protective Services. Part 2 now up.
1. Solo

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.

AN: One shot for now, though if Dean cooperates, I may add his take shortly.

Sam had been fourteen when he was taken away from his father and brother by Child Protective Services. He knew his dad and Dean hadn't _planned_ on being away for almost a week while chasing a witch around a ring of small times in Nowhere, Minnesota. Sam himself had been rather pleased, actually, knowing that this was as good a time as any to prove just how well he could take care of himself on his own.

He had thought he was being careful, but the people in this small town were just a little too friendly and far too nosy for everyone's own good. Somehow, whispers circulated and word got back to a teacher, and before Sam even had an inkling what was happening, a call had been made and he was called out of class and into a meeting with his computer class teacher, a woman he'd never seen before and a police officer. Days like that never boded well.

He was excused from school the rest of the day, under the care of the woman from CPS, who explained gently that as soon as the investigation was wrapped up he would be moved to a foster home. He was vaguely horrified to discover they'd been quietly investigating the Winchester family since Day 3 of Sam's solo time. His family apparently was seen as rather of a risk, and would not be informed of his whereabouts.

Sam thought long and hard about his situation in the initial few nights after his abrupt and unwanted move. They still had not been able to contact his father or his brother. The cell phone number that Sam had given them was out of service, that fact alone gave him an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach when he dwelled on it too long. He wanted to call Pastor Jim or Bobby, but he knew they wouldn't be allowed to know where he was either. His foster mom- Julie, he called her, refusing to use anything else- tutted when she thought about Sam wasn't listening about 'the poor boy being just _abandoned_ like that'. He refused to believe he was abandoned. He knew as long as they were able, Dad and Dean would come looking for him.

He kept his head down. He kept his grades up. Three years passed. He went out for everything in school that he could. His first name appeared in the paper. His real last name did not. His family was still considered a risk to whisk him away. Sam hoped they would. Soccer, track and swim kept him in shape. He lifted weights. He missed sparring more than he ever thought he would. He tried to take up karate, but the moves were too different for his muscle memory to overcome. He made honor roll every semester. He threw himself into learning Latin. He got parts in the play. He hid away newspaper clippings of anything hinting at Supernatural Things. He won a full ride to Stanford. He Looked Normal. He had never lived this long anywhere in his life. He hated it.

_If you get separated, stay in one place for as long as you can, as long as it's safe. It's a whole lot easier for me or Dean to find you when you're stationary. You hear me, Sammy?_

Sam heard him. He wouldn't cause his foster parents any trouble, he'd be such a model foster child that no one would worry about him as soon as he was Legal.

His birthday came.

He was going to find his family.


	2. Coda

Coda

Disclaimer: Don't own Supernatural

Dean sat up when instead of coming out with Sam, John came out with their bags haphazardly packed. He leaned out the window as John went past to open the trunk.

"Uh, hello? You forget something?" Dean peered back at the motel room door, but it remained closed.

John slammed the trunk harder than necessary, "Sam's not here."

"Not here?" Dean was half out of his seat to go look for himself when John slid into the driver's seat, tossed a ripped envelope at Dean and started up the car. CPS were the only letters he needed to see for his stomach to drop, his heart following rapidly. "Where did they take him?" Dean demanded, even as he skimmed it for himself.

"You know they aren't going to tell us that," John peeled out of the parking lot, headed back into town, "Not right away."

Dean ran a hand through his hair, "We weren't gone that long." It was muttered more to himself but John heard it anyway.

"It shouldn't have happened," John agreed, "Just a misunderstanding, and then we'll put this place in our rearview."

Dean gave a tight nod. Sam may have suddenly turned into a pain in the ass at the same time he'd turned 13, but as much as he'd threatened to over the last year and a half, he wasn't leaving Sam behind.

John pulled into the office and jumped out with only a gruff "wait here." Dean bristled a bit but stayed put. They'd already learned it didn't help when Dean threatened to punch a social worker.

It was barely fifteen minutes later when John strode out, looking angrier than Dean had seen him in years. He slammed the door harder than necessary.

"No record of a case. No record of him at the school. Receptionist, case workers, blank looks all around. Not something they could have faked."

Dean stared at him like he'd grown a second head, "How the hell did that happen? I enrolled him myself!"

"I know." John let out a sigh. "There were sulfur traces in that office."

"Why are we just sitting here then!"

"It's gone, I checked." John backed the Impala out slowly, "We need to get talk to Bobby or Pastor Jim, Caleb if he's close enough."

Dean slouched in his seat, "Why now?"

John glanced over at him, but Dean just stared out the windshield.

"We've left him alone before. Why here? Why now?"

John shook his head. There was no way to answer that. There was no way to know where they'd taken Sammy or even if he was still alive. John had to assume he was. There wouldn't have been much of a reason for them to keep the body.

Caleb was down in Florida and he would start making his way up but there was no way he'd be around if anything were to go down in the next few days. Bobby was already looking but there wasn't much to go on yet. Pastor Jim was getting in touch with anyone he could think of to keep an eye out for Sam. John hated to say it, but until there was something else to go on… Damn he hated waiting.

It would be four years before they got a lead that panned out.

"_Bobby, it's me, Sam…"_


End file.
